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21 May 2017

Oaty Creamy Dreamy Oat Milk Shower Cream

When I first bought 101 Salvations at the Lush Summit, I genuinely thought that it was a body lotion: the colour in the bottle suggested so, and I was far too busy grabbing everything exclusive in sight, that I failed to notice my mistake. It wasn't until I got home from the event that I realised it was in fact a shower cream.

Despite the popularity of both this and Sleepy Hand Cream at the event, I was surprised when months and months later it hadn't revealed itself in any Kitchen menu, or even made an appearance as an exclusive at Lush Oxford Street. However, when the Kitchen menu announced that it would be bringing out Oaty Creamy Dreamy Oat Milk Shower Cream, I just knew that the two had to be related in some way.

Supposedly another member of the Dream Cream family, this limited edition is designed for those with more sensitive skin and does indeed pertain near-on identical traits to that of the aforementioned Summit exclusive. Rumour has it that the name was changed due to the copyright issues surrounding the original release, although how and why the tongue-twisting alternative was decided, I do not know.

Carefully crafted from the best ingredients for healthy, well-pampered skin, this is a shower cream designed for those with more sensitive skin types, as well as for those who prefer the less 'in your face' fragrances from Lush. In fact, I am surprised that something like this has not been made available before, given how popular Dream Cream is.

Despite the absence of both colour and lustre, this product is far more about the soothing, healing properties that it possesses, than looking aesthetically pleasing. It's definitely not as attractive as any of the shower creams to have come before it, but then it doesn't have to be.

Containing a base of oat milk and rose water, this shower cream is perfect for those with sensitive skin. The oat milk has a very calming effect on the pores - cleaning them out without making them react to the acidity that is often found in other products designed for the skin. The rose water is known for its anti-inflammatory properties, which can help to reduce prevalent irritation and redness. It's also a great cleanser - removing oil and dirt from the pores and leaving the skin feeling and looking far more radiant.

Alongside this, you have an accumulation of chamomile, lavender and rose absolute. These three components are very reserved in this format: the lavender taking centre stage with it's gentle, relaxing herbal scent, while the rose absolute intertwines itself around this note and offers a light, almost dampened rose smell. To finish it off, the chamomile adds a cool, delicate note of sweetness - giving this shower cream a perfect finish all around.

Despite the ingredients lists being almost identical, what sets Oaty Creamy Dreamy Oat Milk Shower Cream apart from 101 Salvations is the additional note of cocoa butter in the latter. What made me fall in love with the Summit exclusive, and elevate it above its body lotion counterpart, is that when I began using the cream in the shower, I could smell a layer of cocoa butter on my skin that gave 101 Salvations a slightly chocolately element to it. This isn't present in the newly-named version, which was slightly disappointing.

Much like the aforementioned cream, OCDOMSC is one of the thickest shower creams that Lush have ever produced: you could quite literally leave the bottle upside down and there would be no risk of it leaking out. Having said this, it does seem to be very slightly thinner than 101 Salvations, which is a good thing because it makes it a little easier to squeeze out of the bottle. I would say that you still have to put more of an effort into using it, when compared to a regular shower gel. However, this change is still a welcome one in my eyes.

Adding onto this, you do need to use quite a large quantity to produce any sort of lather to clean yourself with. When using a grape-sized amount, I found that it was difficult to manipulate enough of a foam to spread over more than just my arms. For this reason, I ended up using quite a bit more than I would any of the other shower creams, which meant that my 250g bottle went down a lot quicker than I was expecting.

Despite using more, I still don't think this is a particularly generous shower cream at all, so I wouldn't expect to get almost any sort of lather going when you use this across your body. Yet, I do feel as if when you have rinsed off the thin layer of suds present, you can feel the difference the product has made to your skin.

While it was softening on my body and left a gentle combination of lavender and cocoa butter on the skin afterwards, I didn't feel as if it was as effective at cleaning as many of Lush's other creams and gels. Having said that, it worked wonders on my legs after they had been shaved, and even helped to reduced the redness on the back of neck after a rather gruelling session at the gym.

There is definitely a place for this within Lush's other far more colourful creams and gels. For those who want a cream that is not going to irritate or encourage their skin complaints, this would be the perfect shower companion. I do hope this makes an appearance very soon, because my single bottle is not going to be around for very long when the warmer months begin to make themselves known.